Hopper door for railway cars



1 638,157 G. G. GILPIN I HOPPER DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed NOV. 5, 1925 frwenzar:

Patented Aug 9, 1927.

canes sn res oFFIC-E GARTH G. GILPIN, or nrvnnsrnn; tumors, As's tonon To union nnrrnnrnonucrs H COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A oonronA'rIoNoF DELAWARE.

Human no'c'ha "non nAIIJwAir cAnsi Application =fi1d November 5,1 25? serial an; 67; 03 0'.

The invention-relates to railway dump surrounding web. The continuous web is I car having a door forming a part ofthe car for retaining the loadthe'rein which door is provided with hinges adjacent one of its edgesand is capableof being dropped or swung'openso thatt-he loadin' discharging sli'des or passes over the 'upper surface of the door. Any 1 means of raising the door to the closed position andany means fonlocking and' releasing theidoor maybe employed with my device. p

A door for this purpose m'ustbe very strong and durable because part ofthe-floor'ofthe' car and as such must sustai'n'the load as well as-the impact blow otthe loa'dwhen the" car is in motion. Second, the'cai"isifrequently loaded from chutesortipplesfrom a height of tenfe-et or more, causing the lo'ad to be dropped directlyupon the do'orsl Third, clam shell buckets are frequently used to unload such cars "'and' it is not uncommon for these buckets to rest upon ariddrahbveithe doors. Fourth";- when th'e* 'door suddenly "comes to restatt'er being dropped it -is' not only 'subjected to a severe shock but it mast-sustain the severeimpact thrust of the load which of course follows the door. Fifth, as the load is theoretically equally distributed, the door must be strong over its entire area and must be capable of transmitting the resulting stresses to the car body without much deflection and no'substantial distortion. Any bending of the door or drooping of the corners would cause a leak of the ladin especially of such fine material as sand chats, etc. Any bending or warping might interfere with the complete closing and locking of the door.

As it costs as much to haul a ton of car as it does to haul a ton of paying freight, it is imperative that the car and any part thereof be as light as possible. Furthermore, the total weight of the car and freight is determined by the strength of certain standard axles, so that the lighter the car the greater amount of freight a given car will be allowed to carry.

An object of the invention is to make a door for a railway dump car by forming a metallic plate with its central portion depressed to form a panel with a continuous stiffening web surrounding it, which panel I is termed with corrugations to stiffen it and to carry any load imposed thereupon to the First, it 'is a positioned slightly within the "edges of the plate to provide a marginal portion for contact with the associated parts of the car to make it ladingfprooifi This marginal porbe "flanged to further stiffen the door. J I r a The advantages of my door are applicable to' {door Ora freightkar, such drop bottom general service cars," (used in the drawings) hopper cars; swinging side doors or hopper bottoin coa'l cars, etc.

In -the drawings "5 Eigr l shows aportionof a "railway car with my device applied thereon;

uiapfiragmee/ Irinoriiral 'or' clos'e'dposi= tion the door completely'closes this opening and in fact is a trifle larger on all sides than the opening so as to provide a lap jointbetween the door and the car frame members. The doors are hinged to the center constructlon and are I supported adacent the side wall by the raising or locking mechanism. Any convenient stop maybe used to limit the downward movement of the door.

In my construction the central portion of the metallic plate is pressed to form a marginal portion 4 surrounding a continuous unending Web 5 which surrounds a panel 6. This panel 6 is reinforced with corrugations 7 or integral ribs which traverse the panel and merge into a part of the 0p posite portions of the continuous web 5. The remaining portion 8 of the continuous web extends continuously and uninterruptedly on all sides of the door. This web receives the load from the corrugations and forms a beam or stiffener to prevent bulging in transmitting the load from the corrugations to the frame of the car.

The corrugations maybe of greater or less depth than the depression forming the continuous web-but are of less depth than the web 5 where they merge into it; in other words, they merge into a portion of the web.

The marginal portion 4 (or portions) may be provided with flanges 9 so as to further still'en the sides of the door against deflection under load and to stiffen the entire door against buckling or distortion.

The web, marginal portion and flange may be straight or fiat and connected by small radii (as shown in Fig. or such parts may be formed on curves and connected by large radii (as shown in Fig. 4) and still come within the scope of this invention.

It is understood that the corrugation may extend toward the hinge edge of the door, and still come within the scope of the invention, and, furthermore, while I have de-' scribed and claimed the door made of a plate, it is understood that it may be made of one or more united plates and still come within the scope of the invention.

The specific deformation herein disclosed when used to reinforce a metallic plate per se is disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application for patent Serial No. 30,778, filed May 16, 192

I claim:

1. In combination with the other elements of a railway dump car; a door made of a metallic plate formed with a marginal por- ,tion surrounding a continuous web which surrounds a panel, said panel provided with integral corrugations which traverse the panel and merge into the opposite portions of the web, said corrugations being of less depth than the web where they merge into it but of greater depth adjacent theirmiddle portion. 7 p

2. In combination with the other elements of a railway dump car; a door made of a tion surroundin a continuous web which surrounds a panel, said marginal portion provided ith a flange substantially perpendicular thereto, said panel provided with integral corrugations which traverse the panel and merge into the opposite portions of the web, said corrugations being of less depth than the web where they merge into it.

4. In combination with the other elements of a railway dump car; a door made of a metallic plate formed with a marginal portion surrounding a continuous web which surrounds a. panel, said marginal portion providgd with a flange substantially perpendicular thereto,said panel provided with integral corrugations which traverse the panel and merge into the opposite portions of the web, said corrugations-being of less depth than the web Where they merge into it, but of greater depth adjacent their middle portion.

GARTH Gr. GILPIN. 

